I am thinking about doing another gruit, and I really want to incorporate some sage. I've had 3 sage beers in the past 12 months, and they were all delicous... however, I know that any spice in beer can be overdone. Anyone have some thought on how much sage in a 5 gallon batch, and at what time to add to the boil?

--LexusChris

"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields

Side note: While looking up my most recent gruit (March 2015), I started to wonder what happened to 5 gallons of gruit? While I do enjoy my gruit, its not really a sessionable beer, and I don't recall having it on tap and going through it all. In fact, I couldn't remember having much more than a growler or two at a meeting back in '15.

Yesterday, while going through my supplies looking for my gruit herbs, I found 24 unmarked bombers. Could it be? I don't remember bottling the gruit, but it would make sense... gruit is always better after long aging!

Popped a cold bottle tonight, and it was indeed my 2015 gruit!! And it is really tasty!!

Ok, maybe not everyone enjoys hopless beer, but the spices have blended and mellowed, and the wormwood is now a pleasant bitterness behind the lemony yarrow flowers. I'll bring some to the next meeting, but right now, I'm chasing a green fairy ... gotta run!

--LexusChris

"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields

Yes, I will bring some bottles to SCHF. Both the 2015 gruit, and the one using Sage & Mugwort that I made today.

BTW, as I was at the market looking for cheap sage leaves, I realized Tony used fresh wet leaves ..right? Anyways, I found some affordable live sage in the produce section, and used 1oz as recommended. The smell was really great, and I hope the batch will be as enjoyable as the saison.

Thanks all!--LexusChris

"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields

Sampling more of the 2015 gruit ... very nice. It will make a great addition to the campfire at SCHF!

My sage gruit is ending primary fermenation, and I'm keen to add some light toast oak chips. Anyone have thoughts on how long to let the chips float in there? Do I need to weight them down in a bag or something, or can I just float them.

A little bit of oak character should go well with both the Old Ale version, and the gruit.... --LexusChris

"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields